Tag / Royals

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Team Stats: Walks

With 3 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with walks.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the California iteration of the Angels lead the way with an exceedingly high 9 walks per game.  8 teams averaged less than 3 walks per game, with the Miami version of the Marlins bringing up the rear with just 2.5.

Walks
Team Name Walks
Chicago White Sox 1543
Chicago Cubs 1202
Minnesota Twins 153
Cincinnati Reds 151
Pittsburgh Pirates 147
Cleveland Indians 144
Milwaukee Brewers 141
Houston Astros 133
Kansas City Royals 128
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →
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#43 – Freddy Garcia

Name: Freddy Garcia

Rank: 43

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2004-2006, 2009-2010

Freddy Garcia was acquired by the White Sox, along with Ben Davis, from the Mariners for Mike Morse, Miguel Olive, and Jeremy Reed on June 27, 2004.  Garcia, a friend of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, was cautiously optimistic about the move.  “You’ve got to be a professional,” Garcia said.  “Everybody knows he’s my friend, but I want to do business.  I’ll go there and pitch the way I can pitch.”  General Manager Kenny Williams thought the move gave the White Sox the ability to “challenge for the division in a better way.”  Garcia went 9-4 for the White Sox over the second half of the season, with a 4.46 ERA as the team did not exactly challenge for the division title.

Things fell into place for Garcia and the White Sox in 2005.  In 33 starts, Garcia went 14-8 with a 3.87 ERA as the White Sox did indeed earn that division title.  Garcia then added an additional 3 wins in 3 appearances during the post-season, including the clinching game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox and game 4 of the World Series against the Astros, where he threw 7 scoreless innings.

The 2006 season started under a bit of a cloud for Garcia, who tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.  Once the season started, Garcia set numerous personal milestones, including his 1000th career strikeout and, on April 29, becoming the winningest Venezuelan native in baseball history, surpassing former White Sox hurler Wilson Alvarez.  He finished the year 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA.  On December 6, he was traded to the Phillies for young pitchers Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.

Garcia rejoined the White Sox organization on June 8, 2009, more than a month after being released by the Mets.  He made his first start in the big leagues on August 18 against the Royals, giving up 5 runs in only 4 1/3 innings.  He made 8 additional starts for the team and finished 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA.

He returned to the starting rotation in 2010, making 28 starts and going 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA.  After the season, he became a free agent.

Garcia’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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A Snuffed Out Star

For the second time in 4 months, a young pitching star in Major League Baseball saw his life tragically come to an end.  Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was killed in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic earlier this morning.  He was 25.

Ventura, who joined the Royals in 2013, was 38-31 with a 3.89 ERA in his career, helping the team to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015.  His death comes on the heels of Marlins star Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident this past September.

I saw Ventura pitch 3 times, where he went 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA.  He had a bright future in front of him, if he managed to control his temper, but will now join the list of major leaguers tragically cut down in their prime.  My condolences go out to his family and the Royals nation.

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Team Stats: Hit By Pitch

With 3 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today back on the defensive side of the ball with batters hit by a pitch.

Again, based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most. When you adjust the numbers per game, the Devil Rays lead, followed, surprisingly, by the Tigers, who hit a little more than 1 batter every other game.  The Phillies and the Braves are at the bottom, hitting less than 1 batter every 15 games, while the Mets have yet to hit a batter in a game I’ve seen.

Hit By Pitch
Team Name Hit By Pitch
Chicago White Sox 149
Chicago Cubs 125
Minnesota Twins 21
Detroit Tigers 21
Kansas City Royals 17
Cincinnati Reds 16
Cleveland Indians 16
Texas Rangers 14
Houston Astros 14
Pittsburgh Pirates Continue reading →
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Team Stats: Stolen Bases

With 3 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. After a brief hiatus for the holidays, we continue today back on the offensive side of the ball with stolen bases.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are far and away the teams I’ve seen the most. When you adjust the numbers per game, the California and Anaheim versions of the Angels and the Devil Rays jump to the top of the heap.  The White Sox fall to the bottom of the middle third and the Cubs are squarely towards the low end, with less than 1 SB every other game.  The Braves are the worst team that I have seen somewhat often, at less than .3 SB per game, while the Miami incarnation of the Marlins have yet to steal a base in a game I have attended.

Stolen Bases
Team Name Stolen Bases
Chicago White Sox 303
Chicago Cubs 176
Kansas City Royals 36
Milwaukee Brewers 34
Cincinnati Reds 32
Houston Astros 30
Texas Rangers 28
Minnesota Twins 27
Cleveland Indians 26
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →
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#47 – Jon Garland

Name: Jon Garland

Rank: 47

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2000-2007

Jon Garland was acquired by the White Sox at the trade deadline in 1998 from the Cubs in exchange for Matt Karchner.  He made his major league debut on July 4, 2000 against the Royals, becoming the youngest player in the American League and earning the loss by giving up 7 runs in 3 innings pitched at Kauffman Stadium.  He appeared in 15 games in the big leagues, 13 of them starts, and finished the year 4-8 with a 6.46 ERA as the White Sox won the AL Central.

Garland returned to the minor leagues to start the 2001 season, but was recalled in early May.  On May 12, he gave up the 200th home run of Alex Rodriguez’s career.  He split time between the rotation and the bullpen, ending the year with a 6-7 record and 3.69 ERA in 35 games.  He also notched his only career save.

In 2002, Garland joined the White Sox starting rotation full time.  He started 33 games and went a pedestrian 12-12 with a 4.58 ERA.  2003 was more of the same, as he went 12-13 with a 4.51 ERA.  He evened things out in 2004, going 12-11 with a 4.89 ERA, giving him a 3 year record of 36-36.

Things turned around in 2005, for both Garland and the White Sox.  He earned his first, and only, All Star nod, throwing a scoreless inning in relief.  He finished the year with an 18-10 record and a career low 3.50 ERA, helping the White Sox claim their first Central Division title since 2000.  Garland made his first post-season appearance in game 3 of the ALCS against the Angels, throwing a complete game in the 5-2 victory.  Garland appeared again in game 3 of the World Series, giving up 2 earned runs in 7 innings against the Astros.  He came in 6th place in Cy Young Award voting, right behind teammate Mark Buehrle.

Garland continued his winning ways in 2006, again winning 18 games while losing only 7, though his ERA rose to 4.51.  He also found success at the plate, hitting his first (and only) career home run on June 18 against the Reds.

2007 was another average year for Garland, as the White Sox cratered.  He finished the year 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA and completed his fourth straight year over 200 innings.  On November 19, he was traded to the Angels for shortstop Orlando Cabrera, ending his White Sox career.

Garland’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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Team Stats: Home Runs Surrendered

With 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today on the defensive side of the ball with home runs surrendered.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the Expos jump to the top (or bottom, depending on your point of view) of the heap, with an even 2 home runs given up per game.  The Braves, Giants, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, Nationals, and Devil Rays are the only teams below 1 home run per game.  The remaining teams fall in between.

Home Runs Surrendered
Team Name Home Runs Surrendered
Chicago White Sox 565
Chicago Cubs 399
Minnesota Twins 73
Kansas City Royals 51
Pittsburgh Pirates 49
Milwaukee Brewers 48
Cincinnati Reds 47
Houston Astros 47
Cleveland Indians 46
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →
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Team Stats: Batting Average

With 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We start today on the offensive side of the ball with team batting average.

The California Angels, who I only saw live and in person once, are the only team to post an average over .300.  The Washington Nationals, who, sadly, have had 8 games to make a mark, are the only team to post an average under .200.  In between, there is a slight correlation between the teams’ batting average and their record in these games, though with some surprising anomalies.

Batting Average
Team Name Batting Average
California Angels 0.306
Anaheim Angels 0.292
Arizona Diamondbacks 0.278
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 0.273
Cleveland Indians 0.271
Chicago Cubs 0.266
Colorado Rockies 0.265
Milwaukee Brewers 0.263
Kansas City Royals 0.261
Florida Marlins 0.260
Houston Astros 0.260
Chicago White Sox 0.259
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →
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#52 – Ken Williams

Name: Ken Williams

Rank: 52

Position: CF/3B

Years With White Sox: 1986-1988

Ken Williams was selected by the White Sox in the 3rd round of the 1982 draft.  He made his major league debut on September 2, 1986, going 1-4 in the White Sox 3-0 victory over the Royals in Kansas City.  He appeared in 15 games down the stretch, hitting an anemic .129.

Williams got extended playing time in 1987 and turned in his best season as a major leaguer.  He hit .281 with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs, playing primarily in center field.

Looking to keep his promising bat in the lineup, the White Sox tried to move Williams to third base for the 1988 season.  To say it did not go well would be an understatement.  Williams struggled both at the plate and in the field, hitting .159 in 220 at bats and posting a .860 fielding percentage.

The following spring, Williams was traded to the Tigers for pitcher Eric King.  Following his retirement, he rejoined the White Sox organization as a scout in November of 1992.  He served as a special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf in 1994, director of minor league operations from 1995-1996, and vice president of player development from 1997-2000.  Following the promotion of Ron Schueler following the 2000 season, Williams was named general manager, just the third African American in baseball history to hold the position.

From 2001 through 2003, Williams and manager Jerry Manuel formed the first African American tandem to hold those positions in baseball history.  In 2005, Williams helped lead the White Sox to their first World Series title in 88 years.  Following the 2012 season, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of baseball operations, the role he still holds today.

Williams’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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2016 Final Standings

2016wsballThe World Series has come to an end and, with it, the magical 2016 baseball season that put the Cubs on top of the baseball world for the first time in 108 years.  I made it to 39 games this season, the same total as last season, but did not manage to visit any stadiums outside the city of Chicago.  Here are the final standings for those games and the 18 different teams I saw in person, through both the regular season and the playoffs.

2016 Team Records
Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
Los Angeles Angels 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 5 1 0.833
Chicago Cubs 6 2 0.750
Cleveland Indians 3 2 0.600
Chicago White Sox 17 15 0.531
Minnesota Twins 2 2 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Baltimore Orioles 1 1 0.500
Detroit Tigers 1 2 0.333
Seattle Mariners 0 2 0.000
San Francisco Giants 0 2 0.000
Oakland Athletics 0 2 0.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 0 2 0.000
Tampa Bay Rays 0 1 0.000
Cincinnati Reds 0 1 0.000
Texas Rangers 0 2 0.000